Saturday, March 26, 2022

Catalyst to Highlight New Album in SFP Recital

Readers may recall that, when San Francisco Performances (SFP) launched its Uncovered series curated by the Catalyst Quartet (violinists Karla Donehew and Abi Fayette, violist Paul Laraia, and cellist Karlos Rodriguez), the first recital was based on their recently released UNCOVERED album on Azica Records devoted entirely to music composed by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Since that time, Azica has released the second volume in this series, focusing again on a single composer, this time Florence Price.

The new album was conceived to present all of Price’s currently known chamber music compositions. This amounts to twice as much content as had been recorded for the first volume, meaning that there are two CDs in the second volume. This accounts for six compositions, four of which were given world premiere recordings.

Pianist Michelle Cann, who will join the Catalyst Quartet for their final Uncovered series program (photograph by Steven Mareazi Willis, courtesy of SFP)

Next month Catalyst will give its final Uncovered series recital for SFP, and the program will consist entirely of selections from their recently-released album. The first three offerings will be devoted to those world premiere recordings. These will be the first (unfinished) string quartet in G major, the three-movement piano quintet in E minor (possibly unfinished), and the composition entitled “Negro Folksongs in Counterpoint for String Quartet.” The program will then conclude with the A minor piano quintet, which has been previously recorded. The pianist will be Michelle Cann, who was also the pianist on the UNCOVERED recording.

This concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 7. It will take place in Herbst Theatre, whose entrance is on the ground floor of the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue, located on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. This venue is excellent for public transportation, since that corner has Muni bus stops for both north-south and east-west travel.

Ticket prices are $65 (premium Orchestra and front and center Dress Circle), $55 (remainder of Orchestra, all Side Boxes, and center rear Dress Circle), and $45 (remaining Dress Circle and Balcony); and they may be purchased through an SFP secure Web page. As available, single tickets will be sold at the door with a 50% discount for students and a 20% discount for seniors. Single tickets may also be purchased by calling 415-392-2545.

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